The Mazda CX-5 is one of the most fuel efficient crossovers in its class.

EPA says average efficiency has increased 22% since 2004

According to the EPA, the fuel efficiency of 2012 model year cars and trucks in the U.S. hit an all-time high. The average for all 2012 model vehicles was 23.6 miles per gallon. The EPA says that overall fuel economy increased by 1.2 mpg compared to fleet wide 2011 economy numbers, making it the second highest gain in fuel efficiency in the last 30 years.

The overall fuel efficiency increase was attributed to two factors: an industry-wide move towards “greener” powertrains in vehicles and higher fuel prices which in turn pushed customers towards more efficient vehicles.

Mazda was the most fuel-efficient automaker with an average of 27.1 mpg in 2012, up 2.1 mpg compared to the previous year. Honda was second at 26.6mpg, and Toyota was third at 25.6 mpg.

Ford was in eighth place with an overall average of 22.8 mpg followed by GM in ninth with 21.7 mpg. Both of those automakers count trucks among their best selling vehicles.

Both Kia and Hyundai were left out of the rankings due to investigations over false fuel efficiency claims. Those automakers had to change window stickers to reflect corrected fuel efficiency measurements once the EPA did some snooping following customer complaints of poor fuel economy.

Fuel efficiency has increased by 22% since the 2004 model year, and the EPA notes that current trends show that 2013 model year vehicles should boost the average to 24 mpg.

There already is a separate supply of untaxed Diesel for farmers, and the fuel taxes of road Diesel as well as the commercial vehicle registration and licensing fees pay for the roads used by trucking. I see nothing wrong with taxes on trucking and shipping because they eventually get passed onto the consumer. If you buy products that require extensive infrastructure to transport them from far away places, then you should be expect to directly pay for that extra infrastructure usage in the cost of the product, not through indirect taxes that split your costs among everyone.

The fuel tax for non-commercial vehicles is far from perfect, but unfortunately other more fair, more direct methods of taxation like measuring a person's usage of roads through odometer checks and taxing based on distance traveled would be rejected as intrusive by a large number of people.

"A politician stumbles over himself... Then they pick it out. They edit it. He runs the clip, and then he makes a funny face, and the whole audience has a Pavlovian response." -- Joe Scarborough on John Stewart over Jim Cramer